Agreed on both. I rode one on a demo day with a full akrapovic exhaust, and while the noise was cool at idle, it didn't do anything for me at speed. Ergo's were wrong with my legs cramped, and I have short legs. Tank scoops and little fly screen felt cheap as hell and vibrated at all speeds.

Crossed it off my interest list after the ride. Shame because I really wanted to like it.

I told the BMW dealer to call me as soon as they got an F800R in that I could look at. They did, and I was there that afternoon. Took one sit on the bike and I knew it was all wrong for me. Didn't even have to start it.

I told the BMW dealer to call me as soon as they got an F800R in that I could look at. They did, and I was there that afternoon. Took one sit on the bike and I knew it was all wrong for me. Didn't even have to start it.

Sigh, I wish I could have spared myself all the grief I had with my F800ST, with this amount of ease!

Strangely, it was the F800R that I sat on at the Bike show we had, that I went: "ooh! This feels good!" Possibly it was just after I had dislocated my wrists and strained the muscles in my neck after sitting on a Ducati, but it felt pretty darned good.

Didn't care for the looks though. Then sitting on the ST, the wheels began to slowly turn, and I thought if I could sorta duplicate the ergos on the R via riser/backs and lowered pegs put on the ST, it would be perfect.

Alas, the owning reality of horrible vibes, failures, poor quality, insane parts costs, and awful dealers I had to contend with, made for a total nightmare scenario.

Agreed. Someone said they didn't like the Tiger 800XC because it had bad air flow, was too tall, and too squirly. Those all sound like selling points to me. Raw experience, good ground clearance, and manueverable...

All the discussion about feet forward seating position on cruisers got me thinking, though. What do you do to lift your butt off the seat to regain blood flow when cruising on the highway for extended periods? I was beginning to be tempted by the HD V-Rod, until I thought about that...Maybe brace your feet on the pegs and pull on the handlebars until your butt lifts off the seat? I'd hate to think what would happen if one hand slipped while trying to do that.

floorboards and a rider backrest help alot. just push with your legs. You can get your butt an inch off the seat and keep it there for a while. It helps alot. It helps when going over RR tracks too. It's hard to beat a cruiser for comfort if it's got floorboards, a backrest, a windshield, and some wind protection for the legs.

My ignorance was in buying a BMW R1200c Montauk. I gave it every chance and it is junk as far as I am concerned. There were parts falling of on long rides, to the Factory representative refusing to honor the warranty, because I use the bike out side. It is just an anemic pot metal rattletrap, that my wife out ran in a 1992 dodge van pulling a trailer. I now have a Yamaha cruiser, which far outperforms that piece of crap, and its ww2 engineering.

1985 VF1000R. I always loved the looks of them when I was a kid riding my VF500. A few years ago I flew to Atlanta to buy one. The ride home to NY damn near killed my back. The bike was way too long for me. I sold it shortly after I got home. Too bad, they are beautiful.

1985 VF1000R. I always loved the looks of them when I was a kid riding my VF500. A few years ago I flew to Atlanta to buy one. The ride home to NY damn near killed my back. The bike was way too long for me. I sold it shortly after I got home. Too bad, they are beautiful.

I remember the reviews of those bikes back in the day. Every one said the VF1000F was a better bike than the R. I couldn't believe it - the R looked like it just came off the racetrack.

Ducati Multistrada 1100S. Last year when I was looking for a replacement for my Ducati ST3 that was deerstroyed, I came very close to driving down to SC to buy a really well set up 2007 MS1100 S set up with bags and many goodies. I had ridden the MS1000 when they first came out at a dealer demo day. I remember thinking it was a blast, but I wasn't in the market so of course it was fun. Just before pulling the trigger on th 1100S, I went to a local dealer who had a similar model for sale and took a test ride. I wasn't long into the ride and for whatever reason I can not fully explain I just knew this wasn't what I was looking for.

About a week later I ended up buying a Triumph Bonnie T100 after taking a test ride in which I knew in about 90 seconds that I was going to buy that bike.

Didn't like my R1150GS, although I didn't want to admit it. We just never connected

That explains it. I see so many GS's for sale at so many websites and yet PO's always praise how great the bike is. If the bike is so great, why are so many people selling them? Not bashing BMW's. I own one - R1200R. Never owned a GS. Owned 2 RT's but never connected with them. I'm bonding so fast with 12R tho.